


Hidden Skills

by CaptainDeryn



Series: Deryn's Fictober 2020--Through the Pages [6]
Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings Online
Genre: Fictober, Fictober 2020, Gen, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Post-War of the Ring, Short One Shot, Sparring, Swordfighting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:28:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26882194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDeryn/pseuds/CaptainDeryn
Summary: One would expect the daughter of Guard Captain Wulfwryn to have a talent with a sword. As fate would have it, Faewryn's disinterest in the blade makes her miserably hopeless at sparring a swordfighting. All Wulfwryn asks is that she be able to defend herself.But pitting Faewryn against her friend, Eldarion, seems to be the hidden key that Wulfwryn has been searching for.
Relationships: Eldarion & Original Female Character(s)
Series: Deryn's Fictober 2020--Through the Pages [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1952452
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	Hidden Skills

  1. “that was impressive”



Sword fighting was Wulfwryn’s realm of expertise, not Faewryn’s. Wulfwryn’s renown skills for being a warrior must have skipped her generation, seeing as her daughter hadn’t thought to pick up a sword until she herself had plopped it into the child’s hands. 

Not that her daughter needed to know how to wield a sword with the same vigor that Wulfwryn had needed to learn. Wulfwryn chose the path of a guardian, a warrior, and a guard to Gondor. Faewryn was much more like her father, with a love for music and the bardic arts.    


Still, at the very least she wanted Faewryn to be able to defend herself. She didn’t care if it was through sword and shield, greatsword, or dagger. Or perhaps even a letter opener, much like the Hobbits traveling with her and Raenor learned to use.    


She simply needed to protect herself. If Wulfwryn were to have one rule that would be it. 

Trying to teach Faewryn to use a sword proved to be far more infuriating than she ever would have thought. If she were to be honest, she had taught double left-handed, left-footed guardsman easier than she ever did her daughter.    


More of then than not, her forehead was in her hand as her daughter abandoned her sword to jot down some lyric or line that popped into her mind or twirled around with her sword to some music within her own head.    


Wulfwryn adored Faewryn’s creativity, she truly did. But what should have been a few days of training to get the basics, perhaps a few weeks, stretched far further than it needed to. Stretched on and on, and on, and...on.    


So far on that Wulfwryn wondered if perhaps all that Faewryn needed to know was how to swing a weapon and pray to the powers that she hit something hard enough so that she could run. She tried giving her a sword, a shield, a knife, or a bow. Nothing piqued her interest and if there was no interest, then Faewryn was not going to apply herself. It was a simple fact.    


If there were places for her daughter to take after her, Wulfwryn’s prayers that it not be her pigheadedness and habit for iron-clad opinions were not answered.    


Yet, not all hope was lost. Salvation for her daughter’s self defense skills came in the form of the sturdy king’s son, Faewryn’s own friend: Eldarion.    


While Eldarion also did not have the same relish for the sword as one would have expected--perhaps a product of the post war period where no one wanted to consider the need for more violence, he took to it far better than Faewryn ever did.    


But where Eldarion’s skill flourished, so did an unexpected competitive streak embedded within Faewryn.    


Wulfwryn never saw her daughter wield a blade with as much unbridled force or skill less, but effective, aggression, than when she pitted her against Eldarion.    


Now was one such example. Wulfwryn gave them the cue to spar.    
  


Before Eldarion could really even brace for an impact, Faewryn hefted her sword up and ran at him with a feral scream. Panic flashed across his face as he dodged, batting aside the blows that Faewryn rained down on him.    


Wulfwryn couldn’t help her laughter, seeing the more skillful warrior dodging and at the mercy of the one fueled only by spite was something to beyond. She had been in both positions before and envied neither of them.    


Eventually Eldarion’s ability to run, dodge, and counter failed. Faewryn whacked her training sword into the back of his knee and his leg went out from under him.    


“Ow!” he yelped.   


But Faewryn had no mercy, she took out his other knee and placed the blade of her sword at his neck.    


“I win!” she gloated.    


“Yeah, I know.” Eldarion grumbled. “Now get that away from my neck before you accidentally slit my throat.”    


Wulfwryn intervened before adolescent bickering could begin. Clapping her hands together she walked over, gut painful from how hard she’d been laughing.    


“Alright you two, knock it off.” She chided before looking to Faewryn. Her eyes sparkled with mirth, “That was impressive. Where’s that vigor when I’m looking for it?”    


Faewryn shrugged, holding the sword out to Wulfwryn hilt-first.    


“I don’t care about sword fighting.” she explained. She pointed her thumb back at Eldarion. “I just care about beating him.” 


End file.
